Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Nice looking beer. Ruby-brown with a light tan head and nice lacing.Aroma is funky and fruity.Tastes to me a bit like a brown ale. malty and nutty with a slightly bitter middle. Was expecting a bit of yeasty funk that doesn't seem to be there.Mouthfeel is medium.Overall, kind of underwhelming and not worth the price. Still, glad i tried it. (346 characters)

O: A very light brew. Reminds me of some Belgian Pale ales, like Cuvee de Trolls, but much more foamy in texture. Got it in China, seeing it’s a Biere de Guard, but not overwhelmed. Cool bottle. (564 characters)

gold, clear, filtered, lots of bubbles, good white headBelgium yeast aroma: phenols and esters; if you are accustomed to the toasted malt aroma of darker Biere de Garde you can find it here as well.phenolic, dry, typical toasted malt flavor, hop bitterness low but clearly theremedium body and refreshing carbonation well integratedSolid blonde Biere de Garde, clearly different from a Belgian blonde, not great but worth a try. (432 characters)

A: The beer is hazy amber-yellow in color and has a light to moderate amount of visible carbonation along with some fine particulates floating in suspension. It poured with a half finger high off white head that died down, leaving a thin layer of bubbles on the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.S: Light to moderate aromas of apples are present in the nose along with notes of toasted malts and hints of herbs.T: The taste is similar to the smell but the toasted malts seem to stand out a little more in front of the toasted malt flavors. Hints of earthy yeast are also perceptible.M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.O: This beer is pleasant to drink and doesn't have any strong flavors so it would be well suited to pair with a meal, especially with a dish that uses apples. (842 characters)

Appearance: Clear bright gold. Thick white head upon pouring, died back to a thin foam across the top. Some strands and sheets of lacing noted.

Smell: Floral hops, some malt sweetness under the hop aroma.

Taste: Nicely balanced between floral / herbal hop flavors and biscuity malt sweetness. Hops are nicely tuned to counter the malt sweetness, but not be too bitter, and the malt is not too sweet to clash with the hops, very nice.

Mouthfeel: Just right carbonation. A little sticky on the teeth.

Overall / Drinkability: Very drinkable - fantastic with food. Kind of wish I had it in a different glass as I think the smell may have come out more, but otherwise a good beer. Definitely one of the better French beers I've had. (800 characters)

Light, orange to straw colour with a thumb sized white head that has a thick, bubbly looking appearance.

Fruity smelling with hints of apple and pear, there is also a sort of floral smell to it and some background skunk. Not too complex smelling but a nice aroma to this one.

Fruity tasting hops and an overall sweetness along with some bitter following this. I could taste an almost cider like combination of both apples and pears with a little bitter of spice, other than that there wasn't too much else going on here.

Medium bodied and smooth with a fruity sweetness to the beer and medium carbonation.

Smells good from the outset, like apple cider with some mild herbal and floral hop notes. No spice or malts or musty funk, all of which I expected. A little boozy as it warms.

What a surprise, this tastes like cider too. Slightly tart. Mild noble hop characteristics. Moderate bitterness is contributed to by some medicinal phenol sort of notes. Mostly I get the apple flavor, a tiny bit of lemon, with medium sweet caramel malts and the very moderate floral hops and bitter phenols.

Too carbonated for me, and otherwise thin. Not super impressed or pleased by the prickly mouthfeel. The only thing saving this is the dry finish. After sitting out for a while and warming up/losing carbonation, it has a softer

Nothing here is bad, nothing is too much, it's well balanced. But nothing is terribly interesting either. Overall this is a mild improvement over Leffe as far as regular beer choice goes here in northern France, although it's so close to cider I would just buy that if this didn't have a leg up in the ABV. (1,184 characters)

On the nose, we think of lager but with a subtle touch of brown sugar. The body is light, scent, with a bitterness that makes it dirty mouth while she is far from good. A feeling of artificiality complete the observation that beer is just ordinary. Pleasant to drink but there are much better unless you're an absolute fanatic of"Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" movie (362 characters)

We pour a brew of classic gold. It holds virtually no head, even on a rough pour. There are, however, bubbly bits clinging around the edges of the glass, with a thick hazy film over the top of the liquid. There is moderate haze, but complete opacity is not approached. Carbonation looks to be standard, but the bubbles rise slowly, as if the beer is sticky and syrupy. The first thing noted about the aroma is a sickly, fruity sweetness of overly ripe strawberries. This leaps around lightly toasted malts, and faint bubblegum esters. There is also a dank mustiness about it, but at the same time it is as if that earthiness is hiding something synthetic, like a plastic-smelling hair product. Curiously complex, to say the least. As we sip those toasted malt hit up front, and are quickly met by a surprisingly strong hop bitterness for a balance. Here, too, there is a faint apple flavoring that flashes across the tongue, adding some residual sugar to the mix. Moving through the middle we become better acquainted with the grains used, while that musty, yeasty aroma begins to take form in flavor. This helps round out the finish, where the hops return with a bit of sugary sweetness to balance. The very end is characterized by a final, boozy washing. It has spice, of raw cinnamon and dark herbs, which add a bittering to the alcohol. The aftertaste breathes grainy, and slightly metallic, with some more fusel alcohols and faint hop action. The body is light to medium, and the carbonation is medium. The mouth is left slippery, and then astringently dried. There is not much coating, but a nice light creaminess forms to each sip, likely due to the carbonation. The abv is standard and the beer drinks easily for the style.

Overall, what we found most enjoyable about this brew was picking apart the complexity of the aroma. The strong musty earthiness is actually quite inviting, and asks the drinker to dive down deeper. What was even nicer was how many of the aromatic credits made appearances in the flavor, with a surprising cameo from some bittering hops right out front. We found this to be a nice example of the style, as a whole, and were pleased that it was able to contain many of the primary characteristics of it within. (2,242 characters)

I was at the Blue Martini Bar on St. Martin/St. Maarten recently. Besides all of the usual Caribbean beers offered, I noticed they had Leffe on draft. So as I sat down, I saw they had a few Ch'ti bottles behind the bar, so I ordered one instead. First up was the Blonde. Poured into a Ch'ti Triple goblet. Hazy yellow body. Slight carbonation with a moderate sized head. Taste was very nice; something I had not had on this trip: a nice yeasty and sugary Belgian style ale. Mouthfeel was smooth and full. This was a terrific find, and a great beer in comparison to all the other lagers I had been drinking that week. (616 characters)

Poured in a Trappist chalice.This is a crystal yellow beer. Smells fairly good. Reminds a good Belgian blond (close to Leffe, perhaps...). Not bad for a French beer. Despite of the 6.4%, you do not feel much alcohol, which helps the drinkability. It should be a good option for a sunny day, followed by a barbecue and listening to Gainsbourg... :) (348 characters)

Poured out of a pitifully small 25cl bottle. I wish it were sold in much larger quantities.

This bière de garde pours a slightly hazy, light copper color. The head is fairly unimpressive, but the surface at least retains coverage the whole way down. Specks of lacing clling to the glass, though not as much as I'd hope.

The smell is of light toasty hops, alcohol, and a touch of hop bitterness. Smells good.

It tastes good too. The alcohol is certainly present yet not overwhelming. There is a distinct and assertive toasted malt flavor, backed by some hop undertones and bitterness. It makes me feel like I'm drinking an ever-so-slightly dialed back Maibock, so I like this quite a bit. Left with a dry, bitter/alcoholic finish.

The body is a strong medium heft, which is impressive for a beer of this color. Carbonation is present but non-interfering. Creamy feel.

I love this beer. I don't care how it looks, I care how about everything else and that's where it scores well for me. I enjoy Maibocks quite a bit, so finding something slightly dialed back just hits the spot for me. Plus, with a ~8oz bottle, at 6.4% you could knock back plenty of these for a good session. (1,181 characters)

this one at the Gatineau Select SAQ. Pours light blond with big thick white head, less so in others' cups. A mild spiciness, lighter easy drinking mouthfeel. In fact, I found this reasonable hoppy bitterness, with some sugar and malt, and something akin to an American take on a Belgian blond. (293 characters)

I can find this in tall-boy 50cl cans at the local grocery store. Right next to the Leffe Blonde. I'm surprised the cans aren't more widely available.

Poured into a glass, this beer is nearly yellow in color, with plenty of carbonation but no real head to speak of after a minute or two. There's nothing really notable about the way this looks in a glass.

The smell is quite nice, however, with some sweet malt mixed with some very slight hop aroma. In the mouth the feel is good, but somewhat overpowered by the high gravity (6.4% abv). Regardless of the higher alcohol content, the flavor still contains considerable sweetness. Some bitterness comes in at the end, but this beer is not altogether hoppy.

CH'TI is not the best example of the Bière de Garde style. I'll limit my consumption of it to sitting at home in front of the television or over a low-stakes card game. (878 characters)